The Sun and His Shadow
by ScytheOfDeathAngel
Summary: Uchiha Itachi dies by the hand of his beloved brother. Finally at peace, he is forced to give it up and return to the land of the living, only to be visible to Uzumaki Naruto. Oh and he has to protect the blonde from harm as well. AU
1. The bad days, and then the worst

_Hiyo smexy pants! -winks-_

_Yes, I'm talking to you. ;)_

_I figured since your bored enough to read this, I might as well be entertaining, ne?_

_Well this idea came to me while I was taking a dump in the restroom. I know, weird and strange huh? But that's where all my ideas shimmer, in the wee crevices of...my bathroom! XD_

**Disclaimer Person****: Kyo doesn't like to be referred just any "simple human name". You may call Kyo: Master, Oh-sexy-one, very glorious leader, Hot Pants, The Magnificent, The Great, Sex-on-legs, or a very common one...SODA. ;)**

-twitches- Wha?? Shuichi what kind of disclaimer was that?!

**Shuichi****: -grumbles- **_**...ungrateful friend...**_

**Inspiration for is story comes from the Korean Drama, "Who are you?" If you haven't seen it, or for that matter any type of Asian drama, go to Kyo's profile for details. -foams- SEE IT! **

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**Summary: Uchiha Itachi dies before planned. The sucky part about this is that he doesn't move on. Stuck in the living realm, what if the only person who can actually see him...is Naruto? **

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**The Sun and His Shadow**

_**Chapter 1: The Bad Days, and then the Worst Days**_

Naruto was never a morning person.

Many of his friend were insultingly shocked at this statement when he seemed just a tad grumpy one fine, early day.

"Whoever's the idiot that said blondes were morning people, needs to get stabbed with a blunt kunai," growled a sleepy Naruto, grabbing his black ninja pouch of the kitchen table.

It wasn't his fault he got all the looks from his dad's gene pool.

Yes, Naruto was finally told about his parents, although he had to do quite a few "_henge's"_ for his taste just to learn something that should have been mentioned to him from the start.

"Perverted old fart," mumbled the blonde, closing the door behind him, and running towards the re-newed team 7. Surprisingly, the one who finally told him of his parentage, was Jiraiya. Although that was expected, seeing as Naruto had to use his "S-class Jutsu". (Cough-SexyNoJutsu-Cough)

Naruto sighed, slowing down, spotting the forms of his team-mates near Konoha's front gates.

Its been 3 years since Sasuke's betrayal, Naruto being 16. While everyone else was starting to see Naruto's promise to Sakura as an impossible dream, he kept on blindingly hoping to some day return his best friend and rival back home.

Landing in a graceful crouch in front of his rosette friend, he smiled, sparkling azure eyes slowly eye-balling his approaching team-mate, Sai.

After the 1st mission with Sai, Naruto and Sakura have been reluctant to go on another one again, but after the first few missions, they started to trust him again, Naruto more easily than Sakura.

He didn't eye-ball Sai because he didn't completely trust him, just the opposite actually. He trusted him enough to know what was going to happen next.

"Hey Naruto. Have you grown your penis yet?"

"Damn it, Sai! Don't start today! I'll rip your _censored _balls off if I have to!"

Said-person and Sakura seemed a little shocked at the outburst, before Sai started to laugh good-naturedly.

"It seems Naruto's on his man period today."

It was Sakura's turn to start giggling, turning to full blown laughter when Sai began to be chased by a pissed-off blonde.

An amused Tenzou seemed to just morph out of nowhere, surprising all three.

"Tenzou-sensei! You need to us show how you do that!" yelled Naruto, running next to a flabbergasted Sakura. Sai catched up, shaking his head in agreement.

"Maybe later. Our training for today is cancelled. Right now, Hokage-sama has assigned us a mission. I'll brief you about it on the way out, regroup here in 10 minutes."

Taking that as their cue, all three split in different directions. Tenzou shook his head, seeing the esctastic faces on his team. He sniffed, making himself a comfortable wooden chair.

Plopping himself down, he glared at the grass below his feet.

His training sessions weren't that bad.

-----------

Naruto hummed happily, grabbing his orange pack and stuffing few of the items he had. The picture of the old team seven grabbed his attention, making him pause. A certain someone caught his full attention.

"Don't worry. I'll bring you back."

Grinning confidentily, he swung his backpack over his broad shoulders, running back to where he just came from.

A few minutes of bickering with Sai, all four where all prepared, ready to head out.

Walking towards the looming gates of Konoha, Naruto turned to Tenzou. "What's this mission about, Sensei?" Sakura and Sai both turned to their leader as well, curious to see what got them out of Tenzou's horrible training regiment. Both shivered, reminding themselves to thank Tsunade later.

Pursing his lips together, Tenzou looked on, shifting through the information Tsunade had just given him early that day.

_Flashback mode: ON_

_Tenzou bowed before Tsunade, straigthening and paying rapt attention to what she was about to say. _

_"Tenzou, I have a mission for your team."_

_He nodded, acknowledging that she wasn't giving him an option. _

_"Jiraiya has reported sightings of a suspicious figure near our borders. __Hot on the trail of Akatsuki's whereabouts, he sent his fastest pigeon to inform us, instead of confronting the person himself."_

_Tenzou nodded again, ready to leave and tell his team. _

_"One more thing."_

_He looked back, surprise carefully hidden behind a mask of indifference, at the way Tsunade suddenly seemed serious. _

_"This suspicious character, according to Jiraiya's report, had a good amount of chakra. A __**familiar**__ chakra that he couldn't quite put his hand on." Tsunade looked pointedly at him, making Tenzou feel he shouldn't reveal the __whole__ conversation with his students. _

_" I want this person brought back, **alive**. Dismissed."_

_Flashback Mode: OFF_

"Well?" pressed on Naruto, being miffed about being ignored.

"A mysterious figure has roused Tsunade's suspicions. She wants us to confront his person, near the border of Konoha."

Sakura and Sai both nodded, while Naruto pumped his fist in the air.

"Yosh! The Power of Youth will previal!"

Silence reigned the group.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head out of nervous habit, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry, I had a random Gai moment."

Laughing, all 4 waved good-bye to some chuunin guards that seemed to be bored out of their mind.

A good hour into traveling, Sakura and Naruto got into a heated debate about one of Sai's drawings. "Damn it, Naruto. Can't you see it's a dog?! It has DOG ears, not fox ears!"

Naruto scoffed, grabbing Sai's drawing and shoving it right up his pink haired team-mate's face. "Sakura, are you blind? It looks nothing like a dog. Heck, if you want me to run back to Konoha and drag Akamaru with me, I will!"

Slightly turning to the direction they were traveling away from as a joke, Naruto froze.

A frustrated Sakura turned to look back at him, her previous angered features slowly turning to worry. "Naruto, what's wrong?"

Hearing the commotion behind them, Sai and Tenzou also looked back.

Naruto's eyes seemed to pop out, mouth hanging open. He pointed towards a figure covered in a dark cloak, shrouded around a groove of trees.

Sputtering, he finally managed to spit out what he was trying to say.

"Sasuke?!"

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**Hehe! Gotcha!**

**I wanted to put Itachi's name, but he won't be mentioned till the next chapter. ;) Woot! Man! I feel super-hyped. I have so many ideas and scenarios that I can't wait for you to read! -pumps fist in the air-**

**Yosh! **

**~Here I should insert how all of you should review or no next chapter, but I hate when an author does that! I mean, what's the point of making your story a hostage in exchange for reviews? I write cuz I love it! I'd be going crazy keeping all my ideas looked in meh head.~ Reviews just make me feel fuzzy inside, and constructive critisicms make me go "Wow, I should have thought of that!" -winkwink-**

**Tune in next time for Soda-chan's awesome tale! ;)**

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	2. Deeds of the Past and Future

-bows and then waves- Hiyo awesome readers! I got reviews telling me the plot is pretty interesting!

-beams- I tingled inside! ~The good way!~ ;D

I thank you for sticking around, and I will have tons more other interesting plots out way later, but for now I do hope you enjoy this one. The 1st chapter was a little intro, not the prologue, but from now on the next chapters will be longer, and quicker to update! So I give you this chapter as a thank-you for not killing me because of the suppah long update present!

**Shuichi: A present that's a year late?**

-sputters-

**Shuichi**: **heh, oh yeah, I quit! You didn't like my last disclaimer, so why should I even bother? I traveled all the way from Japan just to be here with my best friend, and then Zas! You don't even appreciate all that I do for you and then you-**

Errr...Shuichi is having her man period...don't mind that I say man period when my friend is a girl. I like saying it like that, doesn't matter the gender...so scroll down and read before she notices.

**Shuichi****: WHAT DID YOU SAY??**

Meep! -cowers-

* * *

The Sun and His Shadow 

_Chapter 2: Deeds of the Past and Present_

Age 5: Graduated from the Ninja Academy; top of his class.

Age 6: His first kill during a genin mission, about 3 months later got promoted to chunin.

Age 7: Saved a village from savage bandits, one of which would later become a prominent daimyo of the land of mist.

Age 8: Passed the jounin exam.

Age 10: Assisted Yondaime in many S-class underground missions.

Age 11: Became the youngest Anbu Captain of Konoha.

His name?

Uchiha Itachi.

Said-person is floating alone in a sea of darkness. Yes, you read correctly, a sea of darkness.

How?

Well, maybe venturing into Itachi's mindscape should help clear things a bit.

_For a very long time, I've been considered a prodigy. The day I was born, my father would always boast at any chance he got that I came out of the womb silent. That is considered the signs of a genius._

_I considered it a birth defect concerning my vocal cords. __Raised to be the heir of the Uchiha Clan, I was taught to be a fighter. _

_A killer. _

_A ninja._

_An Uchiha._

_I've always had a photographic memory, even before the Sharingan formed. I never found it necessary to rely solely on my eyes, although I can't say that about the rest of my clan. Maybe that's why the Uchiha clan didn't survive?_

_Hmmm...getting too ahead of myself. _

_Right after I passed the chunin exams,(I was the only 8 year old there...sad to say, the participants lacked a certain quality) Minato Namikaze, or Yondaime as many people knew him, had just become the Hokage of Konoha. _

_Hearing about my accomplishments and vastly interested, he assigned me as his personal guard, always to be near him at all times unless stated otherwise. I found it a privilege, since it seemed he didn't need one, even though no one knew. I was always required to wear my anbu mask, and had to be invisible even when a Hyuuga was near._

_As I spent less time with my family, (they thought I was trying to get out of taking care of Sasuke) I grew a bond of sorts with Minato. He became like my first official friend, ignore that he was more than twice my age. I had the mental and physical capacity of an anbu captain, but I choose to try to act my age(I was 10 at the time). I couldn't seem to get the act right. Minato laughed when I told him this. Although I did hear him mumble something about "anti-social killer in the making", and "personality of a grumpy old rapist." _

_I didn't even bother to think much about it. _

_Then around that time, Minato's hidden mate, Uzumaki Kushina, found out she was pregnant. Interesting enough, I found out whenever Kushina came to visit the office she seemed to make Minato sweat in fear. Whatever she wanted, you'd see him use his famed shunshin to get it. I would usually keep tabs on the exotic and odd things Kushina was craving that day. Sort of a hobby for me. _

_As the days grew nearer to her due date, the 31st of October, reports started to come in about a possible attack. Fearing the worst, Minato prepared for war, calling back all ninjas to protect their village. As the ground shook the evening of the 9th of October, it dawned on Minato he would be facing not a human attack, but an attack of that of a beast. A nine-tailed beast, the most powerful of them all. _

_A battle like many have never seen since the 3rd Great War, was taking place at the entrance of the Konoha Gates. _

_Hmm...but that was such a while back. I'm starting to make myself feel old just trying to recall what happened before I got here..._

_Wait...where is here? _

Turning his body around in a lazy manner, Itachi seemed to sigh in bliss.

_I haven't felt so relaxed since I was born. This soothing feeling that surrounds me, I don't care where I am, so long as I can always feel like this. _

Groaning in content, he slowly opened his eyes, blinking in confusion at the girl in front of him.

Not more than 5 feet, she seemed to cock her head to the side, soft blue hair falling around her face and past her shoulders in a cute-impish sort of way. Yellow-cat like eyes stared at him, as she clutched her silky black dress that came down to her knees. No shoes adorned her pale feet, but a plush brown doll hanged precariously on her back. Her body seemed to glow with a calming aura, similarly to the one wrapped around him. "Ello."

"Hn."

Giggling, she let go of her dress, seemingly content with his unresponsive answer. "Now I know where he got his speech ability from."

Narrowing his eyes, he looked around the place he was being held, silently taking in that they were both floating in a void-less space of some sort.

"You're almost correct, although I wouldn't expect anything less from the Uchiha's prodigal son." Stretching out her left palm, the unknown place was flooded with light, making him narrow his eyes even more. Questions of "Where am I?" and "Who are you?" popped in his head. But being Itachi, he re-framed from asking such.

"You're in what you humans know as Limbo. A timeless place where you are judged for the actions of your past life then sent to possible other destinations." Itachi's passive face stared back into the childish one, making the child squirm in discomfort. She puffed out her cheeks, seemingly hating the silence. "You Uchiha's don't care much for conversation, do you?"

Lazily shrugging, Itachi continued to make the unknown child uncomfortable, shifting his weight to where he seemed to be propped up on an invisible chair.

Sighing in aggravation, the blue-haired child floated around his body, seemingly eyeing him up as if he was her next morsel. Letting a grin that seemed to split her face up in two, hundreds if not thousands of doors seemed to appear behind her, all of them a shade of different colors.

Pointing a finger in his curious face, she cleared her throat. "I am the weaver of life and death. I have no name and yet many names, the most common of them Fate." Snapping her fingers, the first row of doors opened up, showing him familiar figures.

_"Itachi, son, make the Uchiha clan proud!"_

_"Itachi, don't forget to clean up your room!" _

_"Why can't you teach me? We both know your better then dad, aniki(1)!"_

_"I swear Itachi, you act like a grumpy old man! Live a little! And that's a command coming straight from the amazing Yondaime!"_

_"Don't listen to him Itachi-kun. Honestly, Minato, I still don't know what I see in you! You act like a pubescent child!"_

_"Yondaime-sama! We have distressing news from Jiraiya-sama. The demon Kyuubi is attacking!"_

_"-and I say this with a heavy heart as your reinstated Hokage, that your beloved Yondaime has wished for you too look upon Uzumaki Naruto as our savior."_

_"You are being charged for the death of Uchiha Shisui."_

_"Uchiha Itachi, welcome to the Akatsuki."_

_"Tch, the famed Uchiha? Ain't I lucky. I'm your partner, Hoshigaki Kisame."_

_"He has the same eyes as you. Perhaps a relative?"_

_"Sasuke, why are you weak? It's still not enough."_

_"Naruto-kun, why are you so obsessed with my little brother? He's a missing-nin, right?" _

_"It's because, I, at least, think of him as a brother... a hell of a lot more than you ever have!"_

_"It's time I fulfill my goal, Itachi. Prepare to die."_

_"...I never meant to hurt you Sasuke. All of this was to protect you. You were, and always will be, my precious baby brother."_

Itachi felt the emotions that have always been drilled into him since his birth slowly crumble. Moistness built at the edges of his eyes, unaware and sadly unused. He grabbed at his head, flooding with literally hundreds of memories. He curled into himself, a defensive human like position.

"s-stop."

Fate crouched down, blinking at his trembling form. "You have very strong emotions that you've kept buried." Poking his side, she tilted her head, playing with a lock of silky blue hair. "I thought that was a bad things for humans to do? Aren't you all supposed to be a social lot?"

"s-top!"

"You know, the last human that came to this purgatory state was about 16 years ago. Although my brother, Shin-chan, got to him before I could. What was his name? Arashi(2)? Mikago? Ugh, you know, I'm not very good with remembering nam-"

"STOP IT!"

Fate pouted, hating being interrupted. She sighed, waving her hand behind her, as if warding off someone. The multi-colored doors vanished, wisps of smoke taking their place. "You know, it's rude to interrupt your elders!" Laughing at her own joke, she skipped off, letting Itachi compose himself.

A few minutes later, a slighly trembling Itachi stopped beside her, right hand rubbing at his throbbing temples. Fate stared at him from her peripheral vision. "If it's any consolation, you were one of the few to not cry from the sheer overload of emotional sensory!"

Itachi narrowed his eyes, tints of red staining his pale cheeks. "Why am I really here?"

The blue haired child turned towards the Uchiha, pursuing her lips. "I told you already. You're here to be judged, based on your past actions, to your future destination."

Lifting an eyebrow, he crossed his arms in front of him, completely recovering from his embarrassing break down. "That's it? Then you might as well just send me to hell(3). I've known since the moment I spilled blood, be it for a good or bad cause, that I'd be sent anywhere other then heaven."

A melodious laugh greeted his ears, surprising him with it's soothing effect. "Itachi, Itachi, Itachi. You know, you're a very interesting human. It's such a shame to send you to the afterlife after all that you've been through. If only I could send you back-"

Eyes widening, she pumped a fist into her palm. "That's it! That's exactly what I'll do." Jumping from foot to foot, she grinned, extending her palms flat out. The same aura that surrounded Itachi when he arrived came out gushing from Fate's body, illuminating her in blinding light.

"What are you doing?" Sparkling eyes filled with mischievous intent made him twitch in warning. "Fate?"

"Seirei Shakuhou(Spirit Release)"

Her aura shot out of her palms, wrapping an unprepared Itachi in a bubble. Tapping the bubble with her index finger, she ignored the glare coming from the immobile raven-haired. "This is a yusuo, sort of like our version of a car."

"A what?"

"Woops, that's ahead of your time. Well, you can't blame me. You humans have too many eras of inventions I need to remember."

Continuing her lecture, she began to move around the yusou, the bubble like thing turning Itachi with her movements. "A yusou is an ancient transportation for us beings. Especially the more older and powerful. Those are called the Supreme Beings. I am one of those lucky few. Anyway, when a human is brought to this purgatory realm, your spirit is your own yusou, so the cantation I just uttered a while ago, releases your spirit, therefore wrapping you in a yusuo. As you can see, I'm not in one for the sole reason that I'm not the one going somewhere."

"If my spirit is my personal yusou, and I'm wrapped in one, then, doesn't that mean I currently don't have a spirit?"

Fate nodded, swiping a few strands of hair behind her. "Very observant. Yes, you currently don't have a spirit. The cantation, Serie Shakuhou, releases it to the place I commanded it to go."

Itachi, being his monotonous self, didn't reveal his inner turmoil. _"I don't have a spirit? I do feel emptier then usual, -wait, 'place I commanded it to go'. What can she mean by that?"_

Smiling in glee, Fate began to wave. "You know, you're not bad for an Uchiha. I'll see you in a while, but for now, try to keep this entertaining for me, k?"

A flash of light stunned Itachi, stopping him from voicing out his questions. Fate blinked, tilting her head to the side, in the place of the red-eyed human was her brother, furious. "Fateliaxishiterru, what have you done!"

Fate scrunched up her face, yellow eyes glowing ominously, completely wiping her usual happy facade. "Don't call me that, Shin-chan, you know how much I detest that stupid nickname."

"As do I detest that obsurd pet name you are fond of, but do not try to change the subject. You know as well as I do **that** particular human used up his remaining life years."

"Technically, they were forced out of him by the constant use of his eyes."

"Fatelia-"

"Oh, don't start with me, Shin. I'm over hundreds of thousands of years old, and yet you act as if I'm a few centuries old."

"If you would behave your age, maybe I wouldn't need to govern your actions all the time. And you've crossed the line on this one. You let him return back to his previous life, which has never been done before."

Fate crossed her left arm over her right, flicking the ends of her well-groomed fingernails. "One second, Itachi was there, the next woosh, gone. Maybe it was _fate_ that lead him there."

Giggling at her own joke that second time today, she turned away from the massive form of her older brother. "I do not find that funny. Do you even know what consequences your actions have caused this time? Returning a soul back to the living, preposterous! Can't you ever think before you act?"

She huffed, her own anger building. "Do you even wanna know why I sent him back?"

"Enlighten me, sister. Since you've never done so to another human before that's been sent here to be judged."

Facing her brother fully, she squared her shoulders, letting the doll she carried with her, float into her hands. She smiled, enjoying the look of accumulating anger in his cold, onyx eyes. "Well?"

Swirling yellow clashed with glowing onyx, before three whispered words broke the tense atmosphere.

"I was bored."

* * *

(1) Aniki = Brother

(2) Arashi = The replacement name for Minato before the manga officially announced it. My friend thought it was a funny little thing to put there.

(3) = Yes, I know the Naruto manga is Japanese, therefore Itachi falls under the whole Japanese religion, but do remember, this is a Fanfiction, and as such, for the stories sake, they need to fall under what religion I know. I'm not a religious person, far from it, but the idea of a heaven and hell, to me, does exist. But, not the way the catholics or Christians believe it to be.

I'm thoroughly disappointed in myself to keep this and my other story, "Immortality is a Bitch" hanging all dry. I love this Thanksgiving break, it was a god-send! A much deserved me time from life. Hope you liked this chapter. Constructive Criticism is much appreciated!

:) love and kisses (:


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